Protesters say detained immigrant families given...

1of3Rachael Tucker prepares her vehicle for the advocacy group car protest near the Karnes County Residential Center 409 FM1144, Karnes City, Texas, 78118. Advocacy groups are protesting family detention amid the pandemic, as coronavirus spreads rapidly through detention facilities across the country on Saturday, May 16, 2020.Photo: Ronald Cortes/Contributor

2of3Laura Molinar protest in front of the Karnes County Residential Center as other advocacy group car protest drove past the center at 409 FM1144, Karnes City, Texas, 78118. Advocacy groups are protesting family detention amid the pandemic, as coronavirus spreads rapidly through detention facilities across the country on Saturday, May 16, 2020.Photo: Ronald Cortes/Contributor

3of3Laura Molinar protest in front of the Karnes County Residential Center as other advocacy group car protest drove past the center at 409 FM1144, Karnes City, Texas, 78118. Advocacy groups are protesting family detention amid the pandemic, as coronavirus spreads rapidly through detention facilities across the country on Saturday, May 16, 2020.Photo: Ronald Cortes/Contributor

KARNES CITY — Nearly two hours of blaring, ceaseless car horns rocked this quiet, rural county Saturday afternoon as dozens of people protested from their cars, attempting to put pressure on immigration officials at the Karnes County Residential Center — an immigrant family detention facility — in a socially distanced manner.

Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly presented a form to families that are detained at the U.S.’ three family detention centers, two of which are in Texas. The form requires detained parents to make a choice, lawyers at all three facilities say: Either agree to release your child or continue staying detained with them amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“I can’t even imagine the pain and despair they must feel and the shock of it all. To have to make that horrible of a choice,” said Laura Molinar, co-founder of the San Antonio-based Sueños Sin Fronteras, whose shirt at the car protest read “Abolish ICE.”

ICE did not respond to a request for comment.

In recent months, advocates, lawyers, Democratic lawmakers and a federal judge have put pressure on ICE to release more detainees, as the number of coronavirus cases among them has increased rapidly to nearly 1,000.

Like jail and prison inmates, immigrants in detention are especially vulnerable to contracting and spreading the virus. They have little ability to social distance, often sharing recreational spaces, dining areas and restrooms, while workers move in and out of the facility.

No cases have been reported at the family detention centers. ICE’s detained population has decreased by more than 7,000 since the beginning of March, according to its website.

In April, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of Los Angeles ordered the Trump administration to begin rapidly releasing migrant children from its facilities, which she characterized as “hotbeds of contagion.”

But advocates argue that ICE’s option of releasing only the children, thereby separating them from their parents, is not the answer.

“That they would try to separate these kids again is really a travesty. … It’s almost like kidnapping,” said Fred Schellenberg, a protester and director of the American Organization for Immigrants nonprofit in San Antonio.

Some advocates are calling the move “Family Separation 2.0,” referring to the administration’s family separation policy in 2018, which put parents who crossed the border illegally in detention centers — even if they were seeking asylum — and their separated children in shelters meant for young migrants who arrived unaccompanied at the border.

Schellenberg, who was a legal aid at the Karnes facility and helped migrants prepare for their credible fear interviews, said that without their children, the parents are potentially more vulnerable to deportation, a move that would likely make a temporary separation amid the pandemic permanent. In 2018, hundreds of separated parents were deported without their children.

The protesters painted their cars, held signs outside their windows and raised their fists while laying on their horns outside the facility. “Families do not belong in jail” read one sign. “Detention is deadly,” read another.

One protester put signs up with the names of two detained immigrants who have died from the coronavirus. One died in custody, the other shortly after release.

The cars traversed the highway where the facility sits in a tight loop, a locked black gate preventing them from circling in the parking lot.

Molinar was thinking of the immigrant families that were just beyond the white walls of the facility.

“I want them to know that we are standing with them and that we will do whatever is possible to make sure they know that this is not who we are. This is not acceptable. That there are people that love and care for them and will not stand for this,” she said.

“I really do hope they heard the horns today. I hope all the families did.”

Silvia Foster-Frau is the immigration reporter for the San Antonio Express-News and is the paper’s lead reporter on the Sutherland Springs mass shooting, which was the 5th deadliest in the country at the time of the attack in November 2017.

She grew up in Galesburg, Illinois, and took a gap year to live in Mexico after high school before attending Grinnell College. She graduated with a bachelor’s in English in 2015. Silvia interned at Minnesota Public Radio, wrote in English and Spanish for the bilingual Chicago newspaper Extra News, and in 2015 won the two-year Hearst Journalism Fellowship. She reported in Connecticut for a year and then moved to San Antonio in 2016.

In 2018 she won the Express-News’ Reporter of the Year award and Texas AP’s Michael Brick Storytelling Award. In 2019 she won Texas AP Star Reporter of the Year in the biggest newspaper category.

Silvia is half Puerto Rican and half Iowan. She loves breakfast tacos, frequently says “y’all” and keeps a stash of cascarones at her desk, so it’s safe to say she’s fully embraced the San Antonio way.